Follow You To The End
by DemonLover8115
Summary: Levy finds herself in trouble one night, but luckily Gajeel is there to save her, what she didn't expect was for him to not leave her side for the next four weeks. How will his sudden over-protectiveness effect their friendship? Request fic. Lemon in ch. 5.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this is a fic that was requested by one of my wonderful readers, firefox26. I liked the idea and it was something that could be kept short so it shouldn't interfere with 'Kurogane' or my One Piece fic, only taking up 3 to 4 chapters to be completed. Originally I was going to make this a one-shot, but the way it's writing makes me want to spread it over multiple chapters- plus it gives you guys a chance to get a glimpse at it sooner than if I did it all at once. Anyway, as a warning- there will be a lemon- so don't say I didn't warn you! I'll give another warning when I get to that chapter, in the meantime it should be safe enough, lol. So, I hope you all enjoy this little intro chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

It was on a brisk autumn night that the petite solid script mage, Levy McGarden, found herself walking back to her dorms after a rather normal evening at Fairy Tail's guild hall; well, normal by Fairy Tail standards. She had spent much of the day on a mission with her teammates, returning to unwind with her friends for a few hours before deciding to call it a night after most of the men had broken into their fifth fight in a span of two hours, leaving her best friend, Lucy, as the blonde found herself busy scolding Natsu for another ruined outfit, her poor skirt victim to an errant fireball.

The city was calm, the air quiet and still, as most of Magnolia's residents had settled in for the night, leaving the short bluenette alone as she skipped through the streets, humming happily to herself to break up the silent atmosphere. As she neared the outskirts of town she found herself stopping for a moment as she thought she heard a faint rustling in an adjacent alley. After taking a moment to look around, waiting for any sign of life, she shrugged and continued on the road leading up to Fairy Hills, guessing the sound she heard was a stray cat or the wind rustling through the trees.

Unfortunately after only a few steps, she found herself pulled back against a hard chest, a sweet-smelling rag covering her mouth as she struggled to get free. As she inhaled whatever chemical the cloth was doused in, she realized her attacker came prepared for anything. The mixture he used was laced with magic that seemed to drain her own reserves, taking away any all chance for her to fight back.

"Come on, boys," she heard his ragged whisper not far from her ear, her body falling limp as he dragged her to the alleyway, "let's get to work sending a nice message to that Fairy Tail trash."

Levy felt herself panic when she heard their sadistic laughter, coupled with the feel of rope wrapping around her arms, she found herself truly terrified, far beyond any other time in her life. Oddly, she found an image of dark red eyes and unruly black hair flitting through her mind, her thoughts taking her to a time she had once ranked as the worst in her life.

"So, what should we do to her first?" a different voice asked after her attacker tossed her unceremoniously down onto the cold pavement.

"I don't care, just get going, who knows how long we have before someone finds us."

"Not long," a deep voice suddenly rang out, his voice obviously angry, though a slightly amused note could be heard.

Levy struggled against the drugs she inhaled, turning her face to the alley's entrance to catch the fuzzy form of a large man, his body cast in shadows making him appear all the more malevolent. She knew, though, that she was saved, and by those red eyes she had once feared. Just as her vision started to fade she caught the glint of a fang before the man let loose an enraged growl and threw himself at the men surrounding her. After that it was all black.

* * *

As she felt consciousness come back to her, Levy could hear the unmistakable grumblings and coarse language of her apparent savior, though his voice was oddly muffled because her head was firmly pressed against his chest. Slowly blinking open her eyes, she allowed herself to look around, gathering her bearings as she saw that Gajeel was carrying her back towards the guild hall.

"Ah, Levy, you're awake," Pantherlily's deep voice brought her attention up to the cat sitting on Gajeel's head, as well as the steady, yet concerned, glare of the dragon slayer.

"What the fuck were you thinking, Shrimp, walking home alone this late at night?" Gajeel growled lowly, his worry coming across more as annoyance if one didn't know him as well as she did.

"I could have handled it if they didn't have that drug," she answered back, crossing her arms stubbornly before looking away, a slight pout to her lip.

"Oi," the dragon slayer grunted, stopping in his trek through the streets to glare down at the girl, "but they did have it, yer lucky I happened to be nearby."

Levy could only sigh in defeat before turning her pout up to him, "I know, and thank you for saving me."

Gajeel shrugged, seemingly indifferent to her thanks, turning his face away as he frowned at nothing before moving to set her down on her own two feet. The short bluenette felt herself blushing when his hands grabbed for hers as she found it difficult to steady herself with the lingering effects of the drugs. She could feel his eyes boring down into her, but she kept her own gaze focused on the ground, pulling away once she felt confident enough to stand on her own.

"Come on, since you're obviously okay now, I'll walk ya home."

"Okay," she responded quietly, nodding before following him as he turned and headed towards Fairy Hills.

They walked in silence the entire way, Lily letting his eyes drift back and forth between the two with an amused smirk on his small face. It hadn't exactly been a coincidence that he and Gajeel had been in the area when Levy was attacked, his dragon slaying partner having taken off from the guild the second he noticed the young mage had left on her own, the Exceed following after, so they had been quite ready to intervene should something happen. He had to hand it to the gruff man, though, holding himself back long enough to see if Levy could handle the situation herself, only jumping in when it was obvious she had been overwhelmed. A few feet from that alley there was a brick wall with a rather sizable hole in it, thanks to his frustration.

"You should know by now yer a magnet for trouble," Gajeel suddenly grumbled as they began to climb up the hill to the ladies' dorm.

Levy only huffed in annoyance, her arms crossing over her chest as she looked away from him again, growling under her breath about knowing she was weak, and that he didn't have to point it out. Gajeel, of course, heard her, even if she hadn't intended for him to, and so he came to a quick halt and grabbed the girl by the shoulder, spinning her to face his narrowed eyes with shock written on her face.

"I didn't say that, idiot," he chastised, his hand moving to her head as he leaned down to face her, "I just said people see ya as an easy target because you _look _weak, not that you are weak... Tsh, I should know."

The bluenette glanced away with his slightly mumbled reminder of their past, before turning back to frown at him. She understood what he was trying to say- that she needed to be more careful, more aware of her surroundings- but she still couldn't help feeling that he was looking down on her because she wasn't a strong fighter like him. In the end she just nodded her understanding before turning back to the path leading to her home, the tall man silently following her.

"I promise I'll be more careful from now on, Gajeel," she suddenly stated, glancing back at him slightly as she walked, "so you don't need to worry about me."

The dragon slayer only stared at her back with a blank expression, his eyes slightly narrowed as he seemed to not believe what she had just said. Still sitting on his head, Lily suppressed his chuckle of amusement, the black cat knowing very well that his partner was still going to worry about her, even if he didn't admit it, and probably continue to follow her home every night he was able to.

When they reached the entrance to the dorms, Levy stopped for a moment, hesitating slightly before turning to face the quiet man behind her. His expression was still blank, but she could tell he was waiting to see what she wanted, a hint of confusion in his eyes as he watched fiddle with her hands for a second.

"Ummm, thanks again for saving me," she mumbled quietly, before launching herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug, that he didn't return, and planting a small kiss on his jaw, the only spot she could reach when standing on her tip-toes. The shock of her gesture had him frozen in place, unable to even think about moving from his rigid position. Just as he felt his muscles twitching in preparation to somehow return a fraction of her affection, the short girl pulled away, turning to bolt into the building before he could say or do anything.

"Wha-?" was all Gajeel could say, even as his cat snickered atop his head. After a few minutes of blinking, his brain shut down, his heart racing, he forced himself to turn and walk away, his mind too far gone to even think of berating his amused companion.

* * *

The next day, Levy awoke bright-eyed and cheerful, ready to face a new day- at least until she remembered what had happened the night before. She felt her blush break across her face as she thought about the peck on the cheek, or jaw considering the height disadvantage; she'd gotten in the habit of hugging him, even if he didn't hug her back most of the time, but kissing him: that was new. The bluenette felt mortified, even if the whole thing was done out of simple thanks, she knew that for her it was just a hint of everything she had come to feel for the iron dragon slayer, and she had no idea what he may think about it.

With a groan of defeat, the solid script mage changed to head out to the guild, forcing her thoughts away from the night before as much as she could. She was surprised, though, when she left the dormitory to find none other than the very man she had been thinking about, casually leaning against the entrance. The sight of him had her stopping dead in her tracks, fighting away the blush she knew was staining her cheeks as she gaped at him in shock. When he sent her a confident smirk, she felt her heart skip a beat and her cheeks redden even further.

"Come on, Shrimp, let's get going," he called out, standing up straight as he signaled for her to walk with him, making it very clear that he had, in fact, been waiting for her.

"Get going?"

"Yeah, to the guild, you normally get there around this time, figured I'd go with ya," Gajeel explained, his tone flat, as if he hadn't just volunteered to do something completely out of character without her asking him to.

"But… why?" She slowly asked, even as her body began to move to walk with him.

Gajeel only shrugged, apparently not willing to divulge his reasons for coming all the way to Fairy Hills to walk her to the guild. Levy figured it had to do with last night, that it was a one-time thing to make sure she was alright, or even worse, talk to her about what she did.

"So…." The dragon slayer suddenly started, trailing off as he frowned in thought, trying to find the words he needed.

"So?" the bluenette encouraged, her eyes glancing up to his as they made their way into town.

"You have a mission picked out for today, or anything?"

"Umm, no, not yet," she answered, curious about the sudden interest in her plans for work.

He only nodded in understanding, no more words coming from him to explain his question, leaving the pair in silence until they made it to the guild. As soon as they walked into the large building, Levy found her two teammates standing by the mission board, Jet just reaching out to snatch a flyer he had caught an interest in. Without hesitation, she quickly made her way to them, calling out to them just before she reached the two men.

"AH! Perfect timing, Levy! I just found us a great mission!" Jet exclaimed, holding out the flyer he held so she could take a look at it.

Just as she was about to take it, though, she found it ripped from her teammate's hands, her eyes following the glove-clad hand clutching the paper to Gajeel who stood behind her. Levy allowed herself to glare at the tall man, even as his eyes were too busy scanning the mission information to see her heated look, her mouth set in a stubborn frown as she silently wondered what he was up to.

"Great, I'm coming with you," was all the dragon slayer said before stalking off to Mira, giving her the flyer and signing him and team Shadow Gear up for the mission.

"Wait! What?" Levy cried out, running after him in the hopes of stopping whatever he had in mind.

"I'm going with ya!" Gajeel growled, turning to glare down at the girl, daring her to tell him no.

"But… but… WHY!?"

"After last night ya really think I'm gonna just leave you to those two idiots," he explained lowly, though not quiet enough to keep Mira from hearing him, the explanation sending her into a daze as her mind wandered to what could have happened between the pair the night before.

"Wha-? But…" Levy stuttered before finding herself cut off as Jet and Droy joined in on the conversation, their shocked faces thrust into her own as they began questioning her.

"What happened last night, Levy-chan?!" They practically hollered at her, catching her off guard as she stumbled back slightly to escape their penetrating gaze, her hands held up in front of her in an attempt to ease their concerns.

"Nothing happened, I'm fine, just a run-in with some thugs."

"Yeah, a run-in that could have been worse if I hadn't shown up," Gajeel snorted, turning his attention to the grinning Mira again, getting her back to recording their mission before they left.

Levy was left explaining what had happened the night before to her teammates, frantically trying to find a way to word it without making it sound like a big deal. Unfortunately it didn't matter what she said to them, they still went into a panicked frenzy apologizing for not walking her homes themselves, something that had Gajeel snorting behind her when he rejoined them.

"Yeah, well, let's go get this job done," the dragon slayer grunted, signaling to his own partner to join them after spotting the black cat playing with Asuka, "this shouldn't take too long as long as the two idiots don't mess it up."

"Hey! We can take care of Levy just fine!" Jet argued, "I'm thankful you helped her out last night and everything, but we can keep her safe on a simple enough mission."

"Uh-huh," Gajeel snorted in amusement, "from what I hear your missions usually end up with Levy doing all the work after you two screw up."

His point had the men grumbling in defeat, both hating the fact he was right and they couldn't argue it- not when Elfman was nearby ready to lecture them on their lack of manliness in protecting Levy, further proving the smirking man right.

"Fine, I guess we don't have much of a choice, do we," Jet said, giving in even as Levy's high-pitched protests were ignored, "just don't get in the way."

"I should be saying that to you," the iron mage teased, slapping the other man on the back with a laugh as he guided him and Droy out of the guild.

"Wait just a damn minute, you guys!" Levy hollered out from the bar, obviously tired of being ignored after spending the last few minutes trying to get their attention and give her argument against Gajeel going with. Her uncharacteristic curse immediately had the men turning to see her glaring daggers, primarily aimed at the stubborn dragon slayer she had a crush on. "Don't I have a say in this?"

"Of course you do, Levy-chan," Droy said, his chubby face tilted sideways in confusion at the girl before glancing at his other teammate for a moment, "we didn't really think you'd have a problem with Gajeel and Lily joining us."

"Well I do have a problem with it! He doesn't need to act like I can't do anything on my own just because I was attacked last night! We can handle this job without him!" Levy shouted, not caring that she was making a scene, and had the attention of everyone in the guild at that point. Even Lucy was watching with unrestrained amusement, her eyes darting between the bluenette and Gajeel.

"Oh, come on, Levy-chan," Lucy chimed in, "let him join you this time, you can prove to him that you're strong enough to take care of yourself."

Levy gaped at her friend, but had to admit the girl made a good argument, even though the glint in her eyes told her she had other thoughts on the matter that she wasn't about to say in front of everyone. After a moment of thought, the young mage growled in annoyance before stomping forward, throwing a quick glare at the blonde for getting involved, even if she was thankful the other girl didn't give out anything else that may add to her case.

"Fine, let's get this over with, then," she grumbled as she stalked past the men.

Little did she know that this one mission with Gajeel was only the beginning of a long four weeks of chaos, ending in a way she would have expected even less.

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**Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry this chapter is shorter than the first, but I hope to make it up with the next... hopefully... I just remembered I'll be out of town next weekend, too, so I'll have to fit in some time during the week to write so I can avoid any more delays. Anyway, hope you all enjoy... and for those that thought this fic would center around the mission... it doesn't, sorry, there's just too much involved to focus on that one thing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

"See that, Gajeel? I told you I could handle this mission without you," Levy declared as she restrained yet another mage running rampant in a small town outside of Magnolia, using their magic to take advantage of the townspeople and steal their small batch of supplies and money.

"Yeah, well, what about those two idiots?" Gajeel asked nonchalantly as a boot clad foot pushed another mage face first into a pile of mud, while pointing a hand at the other two members of team Shadow Gear passed out a few yards away. "Just as I thought they weren't of any use to you, and only got in the way. Droy got winded just walking here and passed out on his own after his first fight, and Jet got knocked out after tripping over one of the big guy's plants."

The bluenette could only frown in defeat, sparing a glance at her longtime teammates before turning to defend against another mage, restraining him just as easily as the rest. The small group of bandit mages were surprisingly weak, only one or two showed any really combat potential, but they were dispatched quickly enough by Gajeel and Lily, allowing her to concentrate on the rest. She had to admit that with her team's poor performance, she would have had far more difficulty with this mission if the iron dragon slayer hadn't been there.

After securing the wizards she had taken out in a simple rune trap, she turned to find Gajeel standing behind her, his arms crossed as he watched her work. A quick peek behind him let her see Lily keeping guard on the men they had defeated, bound in Gajeel's iron without any real hope of escape, the Exceed only there to taunt them. Turning her attention back to the slayer before her, Levy stuck her lower lip out in a defeated pout, not entirely happy to admit that he had been right.

"Thank you for your help, Gajeel," she finally said quietly.

As she moved away to check on her teammates, she was surprised to find herself stopped by a large palm resting atop her head, the firm grip forcing her to turn back to the iron mage's own frowning face.

"Hey, I know you're strong enough to take care of yourself," he admitted, his own tone surprisingly soft as he carefully chose his words, "but ya also tend to get yourself stuck in messes where ya need a bit more muscle backing ya up."

"I know," Levy admitted; sighing as the tall man ruffled her hair before pulling his hand away. "But still, you can't go on every one of my missions."

"Heh, we'll see about that," Gajeel answered cheekily, grinning widely as he waved her off to check on her teammates while he finished hauling off the criminals for the Magic Council to collect.

* * *

Two days later Levy found herself groaning in annoyance as she sat in a library in Crocus, her Shadow Gear teammates asleep in a corner, while the large iron dragon slayer sat across from her watching intently as she worked. She had picked a simple, boring translation mission, one that held no chance of involving a fight, in the hopes that it would deter Gajeel from going with her again; unfortunately it didn't.

After they had returned from the bandit mission, the iron mage had escorted her home, a gesture she was slightly more okay with since she had hoped it'd be the end of his sudden need to follow her around. The next day, though, she awoke to find him waiting to walk her to the guild again. He hung around her for most of the day at the hall since she didn't take a mission, wanting to give her teammates a chance to rest before they set out again, and at the end of the day he once more walked her home. Again, she was mostly fine with his uncharacteristic hovering, mainly because it meant she had a chance to spend more time with him then she normally could, but at the same time it made her feel like she was too weak to protect herself.

Then the next day he was there again, waiting to walk her to Fairy Tail, following her to the mission board, watching as she quickly snatched up the Crocus translation mission, and stuck by her side as she turned it in to Mira. An hour later, he was laying against her on the train, completely motion sick and looking so pathetic she couldn't stay annoyed at his over-protectiveness during the trip to the capital. She had hardly spoken a word to him that day, silently moving him so he could lay his head in her lap during the train ride, idly stroking her fingers through his hair as she stared out the window and tried to ignore the mixture of shock and amusement on her teammates' and Lily's faces.

Now, though, now that they were seated safely inside the library, his red eyes burning into her as he watched her read and transcribe, she felt her patience snap.

"Did you really have to come with me on this mission?" She practically growled at him, her eyes looking up briefly to glare at him before returning to her texts.

Gajeel only grunted noncommittally, laying his head on his arms atop the table as he continued to watch her.

"All I'm doing is translating a few books, there's no danger involved with this," Levy continued to argue, "at least no danger beyond getting a paper cut."

She heard Lily snort in amusement at her remark, the black cat having taken a comfortable seat in her lap as he enjoyed quietly teasing his partner with knowing smiles. Her eyes, though, moved up to catch Gajeel frowning at her, apparently not as amused as his Exceed.

"There's always the chance you could run into trouble, even if it's just on the road between here and Magnolia," he argued.

Levy had to concede that he had a point, even if it was something of a stretch, and as long as they took a train, he wasn't actually all that helpful in travel.

"Isn't this boring for you, though," the bluenette asked as she turned back to her work, "just watching me work?"

Again the dragon slayer only shrugged before answering; "I've always liked to watch you do this shit. Sure, I can't understand a bit of it, but I think it's pretty amazing that you can do this so easily."

The young woman found herself blushing at his compliment, vaguely recalling the first time he watched her work during Laxus' attempt to take over the guild. Even then he hovered over her, watching and complimenting her as she solved Freed's runes. At that moment, as she glanced at his blank, yet honest face, she realized she really didn't mind having him hanging around her so much. Even if she felt he was being strangely silly and overprotective, for a reason she couldn't even begin to imagine.

"Why are you insisting on following me so much all of a sudden?" She asked, voicing her confusion aloud to the man across from her.

"I don't know," Gajeel answered with another shrug, turning to frown at the men sleeping a few yards away, "it's just something I have to do."

It was then that Levy saw it, just as he turned away; a brief flicker of emotion passing over his face, far more than she had ever seen from him before. There was confusion, a small hint of guilt, but mostly a slight tenderness in his eyes that was normally reserved for Lily.

"Okay, then," the bluenette said with a gentle smile, giggling slightly as he turned his attention back to her, clearly confused by her reaction as he stared at her. "If it's something you have to do, then I can't stop you, I guess. Anyway, it's not so bad having you and Lily around."

In her lap, Lily could only chuckle as his partner turned his head away again, burying it slightly in his arms as he grunted at her, apparently at a loss for words after seeing her acceptance of his continued presence. The black cat knew the man was still coming to terms with how he felt for the blue haired mage; he was reluctant to move out of the strange gray area they had somehow fallen into since Tenrou Island. As it was, the majority of the guild was just waiting for the pair to act on their obvious feelings for each other, but Levy was shy and didn't think her feelings were returned, and Gajeel was, well, Gajeel; stubbornly pretending nothing had changed, even though everything had.

The next day the group was back on a train to Magnolia, Gajeel nearly comatose in Levy's lap as he succumbed to his new weakness, groaning incoherently as the bluenette ran her hands through his hair, giggling slightly at his state.

"Stop laughing, Shrimp," he grunted quietly in between gasps for air.

"I'm sorry; it's just strangely endearing seeing such a big tough guy like you taken down with motion sickness."

The dragon slayer sent her a halfhearted glare before a dry heave swept through his body, forcing him to turn away as he covered his mouth and moaned in agony. This time Levy didn't giggle, only gave him a sympathetic hum before sweeping his messy black hair away from his face, her apologetic smile caught in the corner of his eye as she tried to soothe him as best she could.

"Next time we need to take a train we'll have to bring Wendy along so she can cast her Troia on you," Levy mused.

"So you're really okay with me hanging around now?"

"Hmm, yeah, I don't mind," she answered, meeting his curious gaze as he fought his motion sickness long enough to talk to her.

Gajeel smirked at her for a moment, before his nausea came back with a vengeance, his body curling up on the seats as his stomach revolted against the transportation. The young woman's hand was once more in his hair, the gentle tugs on his sweat coated strands soothing as she continued to comfort him. He could feel her other hand resting on his shoulder, mindlessly rubbing his arm as he lay there. He maneuvered one of his own large hands to grasp hers, pulling it down to hold close to his chest as her ministrations lulled him into a fitful sleep.

"Thanks, Levy," he mumbled before his mind went blank, finally passing out completely in the hopes of avoiding some of his weakness' pain.

Levy found herself blushing and sputtering at his actions and comment, her gaze pointedly avoiding those of the three males sitting across from them, keeping her eyes focused on the scenery passing by out the window. Even as she fought to keep her embarrassment down, she continued to soothe the man in her lap, their fingers subtly intertwining as his grip held her hand close in his sleep.

Yes, having Gajeel following her around certainly wasn't so bad, as long as they avoided transportation from then on out, or at least avoided it when certain others were around to enjoy the show.

* * *

**Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm sorry for the delay, again. I was once more out of town last weekend and just couldn't find the focus I needed to write this chapter... granted I was able to get a One Piece one-shot out, but for some reason I just couldn't get the motivation for this story. I'd call this a filler chapter, by the way, a lot of fluff and you get Gajeel's perspective on what's going through his mind, more or less, but the good stuff will come in the next two chapters, and then the story will be complete. So almost there, and I might release the next chapter early, since I have a good idea what I want to have happen.**

**For those following Kurogane- I'm sorry, please be a little more patient with me, I'm a bit stuck on where I want to go with that. I'm hoping this weekend I can do another double release... no promises, but I'll try.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima. (Who I'm in love with right now thanks to the GaLe, Baccana, and Jerza- oh the Jerza- in the last chapter... made my fangirl weekend, lol)**

* * *

Levy let out a sigh as she lifted her eyes from her book to peer at the man sitting across from her, his arms sprawled out over the table and his head lying against the hard wood as he stared out at the guild hall around them. He looked obviously bored sitting there, his face set in a deep scowl while he watched Natsu and Gray get into yet another fight.

"You don't have to sit here with me, Gajeel," the bluenette urged, setting her book down for a moment as his eyes drifted to look at her with a stoic expression, "if you want to go pick a fight with Natsu and Gray, then just go. We're in the guild; I'm mostly safe just sitting her with my book.

The iron dragon slayer frowned at her, huffing slightly before turning his head back to the quickly escalating fight across the room, but made no move to jump into the action, apparently determined to remain with her even if it meant his absolute boredom.

Levy rolled her eyes at him, glancing at the black cat sitting on the table who shared her exasperation at the man's stubbornness. It had been two weeks since Gajeel had rescued her from some attackers in the streets on her way home one night, and, as he implied he would, he hadn't left her side for more than a few minutes at a time. The only break she had from his presence came while she was at home, or in the bathroom, which she'll admit she hid in should his constant attention get a bit overwhelming. Overall, though, she did enjoy having him around, reveling in the fact that his sudden overprotectiveness meant he cared about her on some level, she just wished she knew what level that was.

Releasing another sigh, the younger mage shut her book, leaning over the table as Gajeel was distracted by Natsu getting Elfman into a headlock, and hit him on the head with the thick tome. It wasn't hard, but it was enough to have Gajeel staring at her again, his eyes set in a glare as he rubbed the top of his abused head, growling in annoyance at her actions.

"What the hell was that for, Shrimp!?"

"Just go! I'm sick of watching you pout and mope as if I'm keeping you from having fun, especially since I'm not!" Levy yelled at him, standing in her frustration and pointing at the now paused fight as everyone in the guild froze to watch the bluenette yell at the much larger man.

Natsu, still holding Elfman in his headlock, immediately started snickering at his fellow dragon slayer; Gray joining in not long after, the ice make mage holding his fist in the air as he prepared to punch Bixlow in the face. The growing chorus of laughter had Gajeel scowling at the other members, growling for a moment before stubbornly slumping back down into his lazy position, causing the woman across from him to rub at her temples in exasperation, an annoyed moan welling up in her throat as she tried to break him away from her.

"Come on, Gajeel!" Natsu hollered from across the room, unceremoniously dropping Elfman in favor of taking on a fighting stance, his hands ablaze as he sought to challenge his fellow slayer. "Fight me!"

"Can it, Salamander, I'm not in the mood."

Levy almost started laughing at Natsu's shell-shocked reaction, obviously not used to the iron mage turning him down for a fight, but she was too busy glaring at the other man who stubbornly remained seated, at least until the men of the guild took matters into their own hands. She wasn't expecting to have a table thrown in their direction, but that's what happened; Natsu figuring the best way to get Gajeel into action was to piss him off so much he had no choice but to fight.

It certainly did the trick, considering the table was aiming to hit her along with the iron dragon, that fact moving Gajeel in the blink of an eye, his arm formed into a metal pole to break apart the wood while he moved to stand over her. To her utter shock he even pulled her into his chest, surrounding her in a way that prevented the bits of broken wood from hitting her, the annoyed growl reverberating in his chest, felt in her hands as she instinctively clung to him. At that point her mind had completely shut down, her senses overloaded as she stared blankly at the strong chest she was being held against, her ears just barely registering the sounds of Gajeel's angry yells, his body shaking as he gestured at the other mages, even as his arm kept a tight lock around her shoulders.

"Oi, Levy?" His voice suddenly broke into her haze, drawing her wide eyes up to his face as she gave him her attention. "You okay?"

She nodded mutely, her facing warming with a tell-tale blush as she slowly pushed away from him. His arm, to her surprise, remained around her, though he loosened his grip enough to give her the space she desired. The bluenette darted her eyes away from his, those red eyes narrowed in frustration as he considered her sudden passiveness to be caused by Natsu's stunt.

"Oi, that's it, Salamandar," Gajeel hollered out, releasing Levy completely as he turned to the other slayer, a sadistic grin on his face as he cracked his knuckles in preparation, "You wanted a fight that badly, then I'll give ya the beating you deserve, punk."

Natsu only cackled in excitement before having to brace himself for impact as the dark haired man tackled him, the Fairy Tail brawl rekindled with a new passion as the last contender finally found reason to join in. Levy remained standing next to her table, just as she had been, until Lucy came over, giggles stifled, and pulled her down onto the bench to talk. Lily took a seat on the table in front of her, sipping on Gajeel's untouched drink while sending her his smug, knowing smile.

"So, Levy…" Lucy began, her teasing voice bringing Levy completely back to awareness as another blush erupted on her cheeks in preparation of what she knew was about to come, "how are things with Gajeel?"

"Fine," was the bluenette's short, straight-forward answer, refusing to meet the blonde's gaze as she spoke.

"Oho, really?"

"Mhm," Levy hummed back as she quickly went after her forgotten book, attempting to return to her reading, even as she knew it was impossible now that she had her best friend's full attention on her, the other girl adamant to learn more about whatever relationship she had with the iron dragon slayer.

"Seriously Levy," Lucy continued in a much quieter tone, leaning in to send her friend a more sincere look, truly interested to see how the other girl was holding up with the vast majority of Gajeel's attention being on her, "how are you doing with all this? Have you found anything out about why he's so set on playing the full-time bodyguard role all of a sudden?"

"No, he just said it was something he had to do after that one night," the bluenette responded, her own tone low in the hopes of keeping their conversation private from both Natsu and Gajeel's strong hearing.

The girls then turned their attention onto the black cat in front of them, Lily's smug smile turning into a frown as he glanced at his partner for a moment before turning back to them.

"Don't ask me," he said, cutting them off before either could think to say anything, "I have a very good idea of what's going through his head, but I don't think he's fully aware of what that is, yet."

Levy frowned at the cat, even though she wasn't surprised by his comment, knowing very well that he respected Gajeel enough to let the man handle his thoughts and feelings as he saw fit to, even if he still teased the man relentlessly about them.

Lily, though, did step forward, placing a comforting paw on the girl's arm as he prepared to continue; "Don't worry so much about it, Levy, I'm sure we'll all have some answers soon enough."

At his reassurance, the bluenette let a soft smile bloom over her face, nodding in understanding before Lucy felt it right to change the topic of their conversation. The girls ended up discussing one of the latest bestsellers that had just hit the market, chatting animatedly as Lily sat back and listened while keeping an eye on Gajeel's fight. The black Exceed couldn't help but smirk as he caught his partner's red eyes glancing towards the script mage from time to time, even though the gesture often meant his guard was let down, leaving him open for an attack from Natsu.

Eventually the girls settled down in their conversation, Levy moving back to her book once her friend became distracted by something Natsu said, running off to yell at her teammate about respecting people's privacy more. Lily stayed behind, curling up in the bluenette's lap as the late hour began to get to both of them, the young woman letting out a yawn as her eyes drifted shut for a moment. At some point he felt sleep pull him down, and at that same time he felt Levy lean forward onto the table, her head tucked in her arms, breathing light, her mind soundly asleep even in the middle of the guild's chaos. As Lily began his own light snooze, he let out an idle chuckle as he thought that only a Fairy Tail mage could fall asleep in the middle of a brawling guild.

The sound of boots stomping up to them later in the night woke Lily from his nap so he could catch Gajeel's contemplative gaze on the young woman he was laying on. He couldn't help but grin as he saw the man cross his arms, his eyes fixed on the sleeping girl in thought, apparently trying to figure out what he should do next.

"We should probably take her home, Gajeel," Lily hinted at the man, jumping down to the floor as he spoke.

"I don't want to wake her," the dragon slayer said quietly, his voice nearly a whisper as if he were speaking to himself.

"Well, you could always carry her there and let her rest," the cat hinted, glancing up at Levy as she stirred slightly in her sleep, her face turning towards them as she shifted.

"I'd still have to wake her so she could get in, I can't get into Fairy Hills myself," Gajeel said, his eyes narrowing as he took in Levy's sleeping face, one hand slowly reaching out to brush back a stray strand of blue hair. The gesture was so uncharacteristic for the dragon slayer, Lily had to force down his excited grin, thinking that he might have been correct when he told Levy that they'd have some answers soon.

"So, then, either she stays the night here or…" Lily began to suggest, trailing off as he considered whether or not he should really give Gajeel the other option.

"Or what?"

"Or," he began again with a deep sigh, peering at the girl before meeting his partner's confused eyes, "or you take her back to our place to stay the night there."

Lily could almost see Gajeel's thought process as his face set into a deep scowl, his mind overcome with far too many thoughts that only brought confusion and uncertainty to him. The Exceed knew his partner was especially tempted to take the young woman back to their apartment, but he also knew that the dragon slayer was wary to do so; unsure on how he might react to having her there.

"How about this," Lily went on, hoping he could give his friend some guidance in the situation, "let's just start walking, when we hit the turn to her place, you can decide then."

Even though the scowl didn't leave the man's face, Gajeel nodded in agreement before slowly lifting Levy into his arms, positioning her on his back in her unconscious state. Lily once more had to suppress his smirk as the girl tightened her arms around the dragon slayer's neck and nuzzled her face against his long man of hair, smiling in contentment as she remained soundly asleep. The best part of her drowsy behavior was, of course, Gajeel's reaction; the man stiffening, his eyes wide with shock, mouth agape, and hands tightening their hold on her legs. Once the dragon slayer regained his senses, Lily moved to grab the girl's forgotten book, flying along behind the man as he walked out the guild doors and into the late night Magnolia air.

The night was chilly, autumn just upon them, and as the light breeze hit Levy, the girl moaned in discomfort before burrowing closer to Gajeel's back, bringing out groans of discomfort from the man as he clenched his teeth in irritation. The tall man was nearly at his wits end, urges and feelings he had been trying to ignore were forcing their way to the forefront of his mind, thoughts he had been finding were harder to dismiss the more time he spent with the woman on his back. Even though everything she was doing at that moment was innocent in nature; he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by her scent, the feel of her breath on his neck, the touch of her soft body against his, the sounds she made as she sought more comfort and warmth from him- everything about her was driving him crazy in that moment.

"Gajeel?" Lily's voice called out, breaking into the slayer's wandering thoughts as they stopped at the crossroad that would take them to the girl's dorm. "So, what do you think?"

"Ummmm."

The black cat released a sigh before flying up to be level with his partner's face, glaring at him as he floated there.

"If you take her home with you, do you think you'll be able to hold back?" He asked frankly, his gaze firmly telling the man not to evade the question or deny what he had just implied.

Gajeel let out a huff of air, turning his head slightly to peak at the mess of blue hair lying on his shoulder, frowning minutely before making his decision. Without even giving an answer to the now smirking cat, the iron mage turned to walk up the hill to Fairy Hills, telling his friend all he needed to know. His gait, though, was slow, showing the reluctance he seemed to have about letting her go that night, but eventually they reached the top of the hill, and just in time, as Levy seemed to stir awake as they approached the bordering fence.

"Hmm, Gajeel?" The bluenette mumbled in question, lifting her head to look at her surroundings before turning confused eyes to the man carrying her.

"'Bout time you woke up, Shrimp," Gajeel grumbled, Lily rolling his eyes at his gruff manner when he knew the dragon slayer was perfectly fine with her sleeping as she was.

"Sorry," Levy said demurely, sliding off his back with her eyes pointed to the ground as she went, "you could have just woken me at the guild, you know."

The iron mage just shrugged at her, lifting a hand to sweep back some of his untamable hair, giving off an air of nonchalance before he spoke.

"You looked tired, figured it wouldn't do any harm carryin' ya back here so you could sleep a bit longer," he answered before turning to give her a smug grin, "anyway, you've carried my unconscious ass around enough times before, so I was due to repay the favor."

Levy couldn't help but laugh at his excuse, not giving away that she saw through it, mainly because she wasn't sure what he was trying to hide with it.

"Yeah, I guess that's fine, then. Thank you, Gajeel," she said, standing on her tiptoes as another daring urge pushed her forward to plant a kiss on his jaw in appreciation, just as she had done a few weeks before.

Turning away with a blush staining her cheeks, Levy took back her book from Lily, patting the cat on the head before heading into the house. Once she reached the door, she turned to wave back to them, pausing as she caught the look frozen on Gajeel's face, his shocked expression deepening her blush further. With a small squeak of alarm and embarrassment, the young bluenette rushed into the house, hiding from the male's sight as quickly as she could.

Outside Gajeel just blinked before turning on one heel and walked home, his mind once more shut down by an innocent kiss from the girl. Lily flew up to sit on the tall man's head, leaning over every now and then to see if the mage had awoken from his stupor, only to see blank eyes staring forward at the road ahead. Once they reached their relatively small apartment, the man still didn't make a comment to his friend, instead walking straight to his room and falling face first onto his bed, the cat taking a spot next to his head as he waited.

A moment later the dragon slayer groaned, turning his head to scowl in his partner's direction, "What the hell am I doing, Lily?"

"You should be asking yourself that, Gajeel," the Exceed answered with a shrug, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I can't stay away from her, I don't want to stay away from her," the human mage continued, turning his face back into the pillow as he spoke his thoughts aloud. "I hurt her once before and now I'd kill anyone for even thinking of half of what I did. She should hate me, but…"

"But?" Lily urged his friend on, a stoic expression masking the fact that he was practically jumping from excitement as this was the most he'd heard from the man on his feelings for Levy.

"But… she doesn't. I've become a friend, I've never been anyone's friend, but even I can tell I'm not just any friend to her," he went on, obviously trying to understand his own mind. "I want her, more than I've ever wanted anything. She's smart, she's kind and caring, she's small, she's cute; she's basically everything I'm not, but that's what makes her so amazing."

At this point Lily was smiling openly, unable to withhold his happiness for this man, and that he was there to witness how far he had come from the gruff, anti-social man he had heard about when first joining. The cat didn't even bother to drop his knowing grin when Gajeel turned back to facing him, his eyes showing he was still confused, but there was a slight glint of determination there that told him the man was finally wanting to make a decision on what he felt for the small bookworm who had taken over his mind.

"What should I do now, Lily?"

The cat's still didn't fade, only becoming wider as he helped his friend break through that final wall that was holding him back from what he desired.


	4. Chapter 4

**Wooo! Another chapter already! I won't bore you with my notes right now, but I will apologize for any typos and whatnot this may contain... it's currently 2:30 in the morning, I'm really tired and don't feel like re-reading this multiple times, but I couldn't sleep cuz I just killed a huge spider, little too freaked out to try, so that's why I figured I'd take the time to at least finish this chapter and get it posted for you all. :/ Anyway, hope you enjoy, one more chapter after this, and then it'll be complete! XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima**

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"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Levy called out as she rushed out of the girl's dorm, her hands busy tying her ribbon as she jogged to the dragon slayer leaning against the fence outside. Just as she reached the scowling man's side, she found herself squeaking in alarm as she tripped, falling forward into Gajeel's outstretched arms as he moved to catch her.

"What the hell have you been doing, Shrimp!" Gajeel hollered at her in annoyance, his anger at waiting for nearly an hour for the girl to come out not lessening, even as he steadied her on her feet.

The bluenette's cheeks puffed out, her eyes narrowing into a glare while she pulled away from him, nodding her thanks before explaining her uncharacteristic tardiness that morning. It had been just over three weeks since they had delved into this new routine of Gajeel walking with her to the guild, his overprotectiveness born for her late-night attack not lessening at all during that time.

"I was up late last night reading my new book!" the young woman yelled back with her arms crossing over her chest. "I overslept, okay!?"

"Geez, when the hell did ya go to sleep, then!?" The iron mage's eyes sweeping over her as they argued, the evidence of dark bags under her eyes causing him to frown slightly, not happy with the fact she looked exhausted, all because of a book.

"Ummm, well…" Levy began, giggling slightly as she looked up at the sky, feigning innocence while Gajeel growled to urge her to answer, "I might have finally fallen asleep around dawn."

"Dawn!? It's nice o'clock now! That means you only got about three hours of sleep, Levy! What the hell am I supposed to do if you pass out from exhaustion!?"

"It'll be fine! I'm wide awake now!"

"Damn it," Gajeel growled in irritation, frowning at her for a moment longer before turning to stalk off down the hill, leaving the girl standing there in confusion at the abrupt end to their argument, at least until he turned to yell back at her. "Well hurry up, Bookworm! I got shit to do today! Gotta get it done before ya fall asleep!"

"Wait? What stuff!?" The bluenette asked loudly as she ran to catch up with him, looking up at him once she reached his side.

"Lily's been bugging me about there bein' no food at my place, and I'm low on scrap metal," the dragon slayer explained gruffly.

"Well, if you have things to do, then I can just go to the guild by myself."

Gajeel just glanced down at her, a metal studded brow raised at her, silently asking her if she really thought that'd be happening, all things considered. She could only huff in response, her arms once more crossing as she realized he wasn't any closer to letting her out of his sights when she wasn't at home.

"Fine, I get it, that's not an option," she went on, "then let me talk to Jet and Droy, see if they're okay with me just staying home and I can catch up on my sleep, I'd need to let them know we're not doing a job today, anyway, since you're busy."

At this argument the tall man just shrugged indifferently, grabbing her arm as they reached town to guide her in the direction of the markets rather than the guild.

"I already talked to those two idiots, I convinced them to let you have today off, so they went out on an easy job by themselves."

"By convinced, you mean threatened?" The bluenette asked, holding back her amusement as he sent her a slightly confused look before sending her a fanged grin.

"What's the difference? Gihee."

"Well, either way," Levy said, smiling even as she rolled her eyes at him, "then why don't I just go back home and sleep?"

"Cuz you're already here," Gajeel answered, gesturing to the marketplace they were now standing outside of to show they'd already reached their destination. "It'd be a pain to walk you back now, and then come all the way back here. If ya get tired or somethin' you can just rest at my place before I take ya home."

The young woman blinked up at him for a moment, vaguely realizing that he just said she'd be going back to his place, which of course made sense, but shocked her nonetheless since it would be her first time seeing where he lived. Once her mind had caught up, she smiled brightly at the man, nodding in agreement to his reasoning, even if she felt it somewhat silly that he seemed so insistent on her spending the day with him. She had really come to enjoy just hanging out with the dragon slayer over the past few weeks, even if his hovering irritated her, she still liked the times they spent together just as normal friends would.

"So, where's Lily today?" Levy asked when Gajeel turned back to enter the store, heading towards the produce area first.

"He said he wanted to spar with Erza today," he answered distractedly, busy inspecting various fruits and vegetables, a frown on his face as he just grabbed a few things at random before moving on to the next area.

"Oh," the bluenette responded, "so it's really just the two of today?"

"Yep, yer stuck with just me, Shrimp," Gajeel teased, grinning at her as he handed her a loaf of bread to carry; his arms quickly becoming laden with food as they went through.

"You know, you could have grabbed a basket to carry all this with," she reminded, glancing up to the front of the store where the baskets and carts were kept.

"Huh," the dragon slayer grunted in thought, following her gaze before shrugging and walking on.

"Lily normally handles the shopping, doesn't he?"

"I come with him!"

Levy couldn't help but laugh at his outburst, her mirth only increasing as he growled at her and stomped off towards the meat and seafood counter. She followed after him still giggling to herself, ignoring the withering glare he sent her as he took some parcels from the butcher behind the counter.

"Alright, that should do it then," he grunted, deciding to give up on getting the girl to stop laughing at him. "I have one more stop to make, then we can head to my place."

The bluenette nodded in understanding, following him when he went to pay for his goods and helping carry a few of the bags of groceries as they walked out of the store. Once out on the town streets again, Gajeel nodded for her to follow him as he moved on.

"So, where to next?" Levy asked, skipping alongside him as they walked down the block.

"Blacksmith, and maybe the scrapyard next to it," he answered, looking down at her curious expression before going on, "I'm outta scrap metal, remember, and Mira doesn't like it when I start randomly eating the dishes at the guild. I got a deal going with one of the local blacksmiths to get higher quality metal, but if I don't have the money to get everything I want, I just scavenge through the scrapyard for some decent crap to tide me over."

"Hmmmm," the script mage hummed in thought, her eyebrows scrunching together as she considered his explanation, turning to look up at his questioning face as she spoke, "You know, if you ever need some iron, you could just ask me. I'm fine making you some from time to time; no charge."

Gajeel's eyes widened as he realized she had a good point, he had just never considered taking advantage of her magic like that, for some reason thinking the one time she made him iron being a special case since they were battle. Smirking down at her, he moved to free a hand from his grocery bags so he could ruffle her hair in thanks.

"I'll keep that in mind, but I can't use yer magic like that all the time," he explained, "plus you're not always around when I'm hungry, so I gotta have something on hand."

Levy only nodded in understanding as they approached the blacksmith. Once inside the small building, she stood back and watched Gajeel greet the middle aged man who owned the store, busily pounding away at a molten piece of metal she could only guess was meant to become a sword or other weapon, the shop around her overrun with them being her first clue. The bluenette held back a smile as she saw how good of terms the dragon slayer had with the blacksmith, roughly shaking his hand with a wide grin on his face, as if they were the oldest of friends. She had only thought Lily was lucky enough to get that kind of friendliness from the typically antisocial man, but she figured Gajeel had developed some sort of comfortable rapport with the man who essentially kept him fed with good metal.

As Gajeel asked about what was available, Levy decided to keep herself busy by looking around the shop area, curious to see if there was anything other than weaponry and armor made by the metal worker. Moving to a second room set off from the main work and business area, the script mage was pleasantly surprised to find some beautifully sculpted pieces on display, ranging from statues of legendary creatures to immaculately detailed etchings of mountains and forests. She couldn't help but smile fondly at the few pieces the blacksmith must have worked on in his free-time, specialty items he probably only made on occasion because they weren't in as high of demand as his other goods.

Browsing through the items, she didn't hear when Gajeel entered the room behind her, jumping in surprise when she turned to find him watching her from the doorway, a large bag full of metal hanging off his shoulder. From what she could tell he must have been watching her for some time, his posture as he leaned against the doorframe showing he had been waiting patiently for her to finish looking on her own. The strange intensity of his gaze had her blushing lightly, her eyes drifting to the floor as she tried to escape it.

"I'm done here, Shrimp, so let's get going," Gajeel spoke up, pushing away from the frame to turn and leave the room, glancing back at her over his shoulder to make sure she followed him.

Levy nodded as she walked out of the room with him, taking one last peek back at all the beautiful pieces before waving at the smiling blacksmith as they left the shop. The pair walked in silence for a short time, the bluenette distractedly window shopping as they headed towards Gajeel's apartment, the girl still slightly flustered from his deep, watchful eyes when he found her before. There had been something there, something she had only seen glimpses of over the past few weeks, and she still wasn't sure what to make of it. Whatever it was, it had her heart racing uncontrollably and her breath catching, as if she was anticipating something thrilling and dangerous all at the same time.

After some time they came to an apartment building, the place what one would expect to find set deep into the city, just as they were. The condition was acceptable, clean except for a few areas where the paint had chipped, and the courtyard looked to need some upkeep as the grass was a dull greenish-brown, but otherwise nicer than what she had originally expected to find. After walking through the small courtyard surrounded by the two level building, Gajeel stopped in front of door near the back corner, balancing his bags in one arm as he fumbled with his keys and pushed the door open.

Stepping inside after the dragon slayer, Levy paused to take in the room with wide eyes, surprised to see the clutter-free space of the living room and kitchen. All she could do was stare as her eyes swept over the minimal furniture present; only a couch, coffee table, and nearly bare bookshelf taking up the room, the rest of the area open and lit by two large windows in the just as empty kitchen, where Gajeel was busy dropping his load of groceries on a small dining table. The kitchen itself was mostly clean, a few dishes sitting in the sink, a few crumbs scattered on the counter, but everything else seemed to be in order. After hearing stories of what Lucy found in Natsu's house, Levy had honestly figured the other dragon slayer's home would be just as much of a mess.

"Well, ya gonna just stand there and gawk all day, Shrimp?" Gajeel called out, breaking into her thoughts as she let out a squeak of surprise and moved the rest of the way in, setting her few bags down with his on the table.

"Sorry, I'm just surprised this place is so… clean."

"Ya can blame Lily for that one," the iron mage said with a snort, moving to put away his purchases as he spoke, "he ain't too finicky with the little things, but that cat hates it when there's too much clutter."

"I guess that makes sense," Levy said, taking the time to inspect the room closer after helping Gajeel, "I'm guessing that's from his military background."

Gajeel grunted in the affirmative, his eyes not leaving her as she explored his apartment, her hand brushing over the polished metal of his single bookcase. She seemed to be examining the carefully weaved ornamentations on the piece, appreciating the feel of the metal for a moment before moving to the iron coffee table and doing the same as she took a seat on the sofa.

"The old man blacksmith made those for me," the dragon slayer explained as he moved to fall down on the sofa next to her, "I had him use my own iron so I wouldn't be tempted to eat 'em."

"Good thinking," she said with a giggle, reclining back on the worn couch, the feel of the soft cushions making her comfortable and relaxed.

After that they once more sunk into a comfortable silence, Gajeel watching as Levy's eyes seemed to grow heavy, her lack of sleep finally catching up with her after spending a short time shopping with him. The sight of her tired face had him chuckling, his heart clenching slightly as he looked at her softening features.

"Oi, go ahead and take a nap if yer tired, Shrimp," he said as he got up to get a magazine from the bookshelf, plopping back down on the couch again to get comfortable.

"Mhmm," Levy hummed back, her eyes already shut as she sank down against the back of the couch.

Gajeel couldn't help but smirk as she seemed to be rapidly nodding off, lifting a hand to ruffle her hair lightly before turning his attention to his magazine. He figured she'd be out for some time, so he just settled in to a comfortable position as he let her rest. After about ten minutes, he was surprised by a sudden weight against his shoulder, drawing his gaze to Levy's sleeping face now resting against his arm. The dragon slayer could only blink in surprise, his eyes trained on her slightly parted lips, his ears taking in her soft breathing, the man slightly overwhelmed by her sheer presence in that moment.

Without a thought, he slowly reached around her, shifting the girl to rest on his chest as he wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her closer, settling further down on the couch so he could rest his head on hers. Part of him idly realized that what he was doing might make Levy unhappy when she woke up, but a far larger part told him to do what he wanted; he'd deal with the consequences later. It didn't take long for the peaceful atmosphere and her calm breathing to lull him into a light sleep of his own.

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When Levy awoke some time later, she was surprised to find herself laying against Gajeel, her face erupting in a bright red blush as she slowly tried to peek up at him. When she found his sleeping face, so close to hers, her breath caught as she became mesmerized by the calm expression he had. The only time she normally saw him like this, he was unconscious from battle, too busy worrying to really appreciate it. Now, though, she could enjoy it, her own features softening as she took in every inch of his face, wanting to keep it in her memory in case she never had a chance to see it in this context again.

Unfortunately that moment wasn't meant to last; at least that's what she thought when she suddenly found herself peering into the dragon slayer's tired half lidded red eyes. It was also at that moment that she felt the weight around her waist, the feeling of his arm around her tightening slightly as they seemed frozen in position, staring at each other, mixes of surprise, intrigue, and a curious passion found on both of their faces. Levy was once more blushing brightly, but she couldn't help but note that there seemed to be a slightly pink tint to Gajeel's cheeks, it wasn't much, but it was still enough to tell her he was feeling flustered by the proximity.

The bluenette swallowed thickly as she became aware of the man's breath on her face, once more finding an intensity to his gaze that had her squirming with a strange anticipation. She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but it seemed to her that his face had gotten closer to hers, the faint tickling sensation on her nose when his brushed it telling her it was real. In the moment it seemed time had stopped, neither wishing to push back, but both unsure if they should move forward. When the hand around her waist tightened further, Levy knew what to expect, her tongue darting out to lick her lips in preparation as she felt Gajeel pull her closer, his head leaning in until their lips just barely touched.

The door roughly opening, though, had Levy springing away from the dragon slayer as fast as she could, her hands to her slightly tingling lips as she tried to hide her flaming red blush. Next to her Gajeel let loose a growl, turning his head to glare at the cat standing frozen in shock in the entryway, his eyes wide as he realized what he had just possibly interrupted.

"Uhhh, sorry to interrupt," Lily spoke up, glancing between the pair on the couch as he tried to determine if it was too late to repair the situation by him leaving again. The fact that Levy had positioned herself at the end of the sofa farthest away from Gajeel, told him that the moment was ruined, and nothing more was going to happen that night. Sending his partner an apologetic smile, the Exceed made his way in, moving to the kitchen to get himself something to eat while the human mages calmed themselves down.

"Well, I should probably get ya home, anyway, Shrimp," the dragon slayer grunted roughly, standing up to stretch with his back turned to the girl, pretending that he didn't see her flustered and embarrassed state just then.

He didn't see her mute nod, but did hear her pick herself up to grab her few things before moving to follow him out of the apartment. The girl sent a solemn wave to the black cat who sat in the kitchen, frowning to show his disappointment in his own timing that day. As they walked out, the bluenette made sure to keep a fair amount of distance between herself and the iron mage, her hands clasped tightly in front of her as she seemed to be trying to shrink herself out of existent.

They walked in silence, neither willing to break it, both unsure how, until they made it Fairy Hills. Levy mumbled a quick thank you to her escort, the tall man frowning at her as he watched her run into the building as fast as she could, not sparing him a glance back in her hurry to get away. Gajeel was left standing there, scowl set in place on his face as he cursed under his breath, irritated with himself for scaring her off with his lack of control, and even more irritated with his cat's horrible luck in timing.

There was no way things would be easy between them again for a while, and he wasn't looking forward to dealing with it.

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**I know... I'm so mean. trolololo**

**Don't worry, I'll more than make up for it in the last chapter. Just a warning, again, for those that didn't see my note in the first chapter- LEMON to come in the next chapter... so be prepared... if you don't like it, don't read it. :p  
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	5. Chapter 5

**Alright! The chapter you all have been patiently waiting for! The lemon! And I must say, this lemon took a pretty decent turn into the smut territory, not bad, but it's probably the most detail I've written in a while for one of these (not the most ever, just in recent months, lol). Either way- warning now for those who didn't bother to read my author's note in the first chapter- LEMON AHEAD! If you do not like sexual content, or are of an innocent mind, please turn away, I can not be held responsible for anyone's corruption. Also- I apologize for any nasal hemorrhaging any of you may have as a result of this chapter *bows down*.**

**Anyway, I won't bore you all with any more of my rambling, but I do want to let you know I'm gonna do one more chapter after this- an epilogue of sorts- just to help wrap this story up in a nice little bow. XD**

**So, please enjoy my fellow perverts!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters, they belong to Hiro Mashima.**

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Gajeel found himself standing outside Fairy Hills nearing midday, patiently waiting for his blue-haired friend to come out of the dorm. The fence he was leaning against was slowly being broken down as he had spent the better part of the morning chipping away at it with a self-made dagger, chips of wood all that remained of five segments of the barrier as he moved on with each portions' demolition.

Okay, so maybe he wasn't waiting all that patiently, but he hadn't stormed into the building, rules be damned, and dragged her out against her will. At least he hadn't yet, or more so he couldn't, considering Erza's hawk like eyes had been on him since he attempted to step foot on the main property after the first half an hour of waiting. She had sent him flying before he could even reach the porch, the red-haired knight refusing to leave her chosen post at the door since. At least she hadn't punished him for destroying the dorm's property; he figured she was going to make him build a new fence afterwards, one that he couldn't tear up so easily.

"Tsh, what the hell is she doing?" Gajeel grumbled to himself, his eyes looking up to glare at the window he had learned some time ago was Levy's, the strong scent of books drifting from the room a dead giveaway.

"Do you want me to go get her for you?" Lily's smooth voice asked, drawing his partner's eyes down to him as the cat stood with his arms crossed, staring at the building with a thoughtful expression.

"You can't, though, can you? What with Titania on duty," the dragon slayer responded, a pierced brow cocked in confusion as he watched the Exceed seemingly ignore his remark, sauntering up to the front door as if he belonged there.

"Good day, Erza," the cat greeted the young woman standing by the door, nodding at her before walking past and entering the dorm.

"What the hell!? Why can he go in, but I can't!?"

"He's a cat," was Erza's simple answer, the red-head smirking in amusement at the flustered mage.

"Damn it!"

* * *

"Levy?" Lily called out as he warily entered the bookworm's room, peeping around the tall stacks of books to find his way to the girl's bed, spying her hiding away beneath her comforter in the corner. "What are you doing, Levy?"

"I'm not feeling well today, Lily," the bluenette's muffled voice drifted out from the depths of her blankets, before her messy mop of hair poked out just enough for the cat to see her large brown eyes pleading with him to not ask more.

The Exceed only chuckled at her, hopping up on the bed and crawling over her to pull the covers away from her face. He couldn't help but laugh some more as she squeaked, her cheeks bright red in embarrassment at his knowing grin.

"Come on, Levy, there's no reason to be hiding from him."

"You don't understand! I fell asleep on him!" Levy whispered harshly, unsure how well Gajeel might be able to hear from outside if she spoke any louder. "And… and I almost… I wanted to…"

Lily reached out to pat her arm as she stuttered, trailing off to look away, her cheeks still hot with her blush, even as mortified tears came to her eyes.

"I'm just afraid to face him after that," the young woman finished, her eyes moving to peek up at the cat sitting on her lap as he sent her a thoughtful frown.

"You've kissed his cheek before, and you were able to act normally around him the next day. What makes this so different?"

"Those times I was just thanking him for saving me, or taking me home. Yesterday… yesterday just felt… different… like something had changed," Levy explained, searching for the right words to explain why she couldn't see the dragon slayer waiting outside. "Just, please, give me a little bit of time… please."

"Alright," Lily agreed with a sigh, patting the girl's arm one last time before flying towards the window, "but I don't know how long I can keep Gajeel away, you know he's not a very patient man."

The bluenette nodded in understanding, pulling herself out of bed to follow after the cat and peek out the window at the subject of their talk. The moment she looked out, she found her eyes meeting an annoyed glare coming from the man still stuck waiting by the fence, yet another section demolished since Lily had gone in after her. With an alarmed squeak, she pulled away, hiding herself before he could see her face as it once more broke out into a deep blush.

"You know, Levy," Lily whispered quietly, his voice showing his amusement as a chuckle could be heard beneath his tone, "did you ever think that maybe he wanted to kiss you, too?"

The black cat left her wide eyed and shocked as he jumped out the window, flying down to unceremoniously drag the hollering and growling man away from the dorms. Levy stood there motionless for a moment longer, her hand covering her mouth to hold in her silent gasp, before jumping back into her bed, a squeal of excitement and embarrassment coming from her lips as she hid her face in her pillow. She had a lot of thinking to do before she dared emerge again.

* * *

"So she hasn't come out for three days now?" Lucy asked the black Exceed nervously as they sat at Fairy Tail's bar discussing their bluenette friend still hiding away in her dorm.

The blonde celestial mage had returned the night before from a mission with Natsu, only finding out that morning about Levy and Gajeel's situation. She was excited to hear of the development Lily had accidentally walked in on, but at the same time was worried about her friend's reaction, and even more so about the impatient dragon slayer Lily was dragging away from Fairy Hills three to four times a day. At that moment Gajeel was sitting in the corner of the guild, seemingly as antisocial as always, but for those that had come to know him better; they could see the subtle fidgeting of his hands that signaled he was holding back, apparently becoming anxious to see Levy again. His eyes kept glancing towards the door from time to time, curious if she had decided to leave when he wasn't there, his hands clenching as the thought caused him to worry over her just as he had been for the last month.

"She's afraid to face him, even though she wasn't the only one acting on their urges that day," Lily answered with a nod, frowning as his partner picked himself up long enough to pick a short fight with Natsu, taking out his growing agitation by punching his fellow dragon slayer in the face for no reason whatsoever.

"So, what are we going to do?" Lucy asked, knowing the cat had something in mind to fix his bad timing that had stopped the would-be couple from finally getting somewhere, the young woman just as eager as him to see it happen after all that time.

"I can't get Levy to come out, so I think we need to draw Erza away from the house," Lily explained, "she seems very serious in enforcing the dorm's 'No Men' rule with Gajeel."

"Distract Erza? That's easier said than done," Lucy snorted, turning her attention to the growing fight as Gray joined in on the brawl, the situation quickly escalating as the men began to utilize their magic, the scene, though, giving the blonde an idea on how to get Erza away from the dorms. Turning back to the cat with a sly smile on her face, she leaned in to whisper to the scheming cat, "I think this just might work for us, as long as you can get Gajeel out of that fight before I get back."

Lily sent the girl a quick nod before flying off towards his partner, leaving the celestial mage to sneak out of the chaotic guild and head towards the women's dorm as fast as she could.

* * *

"Erza!" Lucy called out as she ran up the hill leading to the women's dorm and their steadfast guard still standing outside, waiting for Gajeel to return and make another attempt at entering Levy's room.

"What is it, Lucy?" The red-head asked, immediately at alert as she took in the other woman, panicked and out of breath.

"It's Natsu and Gray! They've gotten into a huge fight at the guild!" The celestial mage explained, silently apologizing to her two friends in her mind for turning them into scapegoats, but it was for her the sake of her best friend's love life, and she knew they'd forgive her afterwards, or she hoped they would. "No one can seem to stop them; at this rate the guild could be destroyed!"

"What?" Erza growled; her sword already in hand as her aura darkened. Lucy couldn't help but shrink in fear at the enraged woman, making a mental note that she owed the two men a great deal after that day, she may be indebted to them for the rest of her life depending on what the Titania did to them.

As Erza stalked off down the hill, the celestial mage took off after her, sending a small glance back up towards Levy's window, smiling as she anticipated what was to come for her friend.

After a very quick run, the re-quip mage not wasting any time in reaching her victims to punish them for destroying the guild, Lucy stayed outside to watch as Lily flew off with Gajeel. She couldn't help but laugh as the dragon slayer cursed and wrestled with his cat in the air, obviously confused about what his partner was up to then. Unfortunately the blonde didn't have the time to follow as a large explosion rocked the guild before everything fell silent, the sound of pained groans coming from inside drawing her worried attention to the state of her other friends' lives, once more apologizing profusely in her head as she imagined what sort of punishment they received.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing, Lily?" Gajeel hollered up at the black cat flying him across town.

"You want to see Levy, right?" The Exceed asked, effectively bringing a halt to the large man's struggles with his question as Gajeel blinked up at him in shock, his mouth agape as he processed what his partner was telling him. "Lucy distracted Erza for you; I don't know how long we can keep her away, so don't waste any time with Levy."

The dragon slayer shook off his surprise, grinning as he set his eyes on the dorm building looming just ahead, and the window a certain bluenette was hiding behind.

"Bunny Girl, eh?" He mused as they made it to the property, Lily taking him right to the window he needed to enter. "Remind me not to pick on her too much next time I need a back-up dancer."

Lily just rolled his eyes, knowing very well that Gajeel would tease the poor girl relentlessly, anyway, it was just who he was. The Exceed just pushed him towards the window, helping him get a steady perch on the windowsill before moving away to let the man push the window open.

"Remember Gajeel, you don't have much time," Lily called out as he prepared to fly down to the entrance to keep watch for when Erza inevitably returned.

"Got it! Gihee," he responded with an excited chuckle before jumping into the apartment, landing with an unceremonious thud on the wooden floor.

As he stomped through Levy's apartment, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the sight of all her books, piled high in some areas. She had been so shocked that his place was clean, while hers was a barely organized maze of texts.

He followed her scent, slightly shrouded by the overwhelming smell of her books, to find her curled up in her bed with a book on her lap, oblivious to the world around her. Gajeel knew she had a tendency to get so absorbed in her reading she didn't notice the passage of time, or even a potential threat, the thought causing him to frown slightly as he walked towards her. With an annoyed determination, he reached out and pulled the tome away from the woman's face, scowling as she looked up at him with shock written all over her face.

"Gajeel! What are you doing here!?" She cried out, sitting up straight as she stared at him.

"You haven't come out this room for three days!" He hollered at her, sitting heavily onto her bed next to her, turning slightly to face her, an arm over her legs as if to trap her as leaned in to glare at her. "I'm sick of waiting, so I'm here to find out why the hell you've been hiding from me."

Levy's cheeks were pink in embarrassment as her hands moved to fiddle with her blanket, her eyes glancing away from him as she wished she could avoid the subject he was bringing up.

"I just haven't been feeling well, and then I got caught up in my reading," she lied, chewing on her lips as she peeked up at the immensely annoyed dragon slayer in front of her.

"You're a horrible liar, Shrimp," Gajeel responded, rolling his eyes as he leaned back slightly, settling his body over her legs more, sending her a pointed look telling her he wasn't going anywhere until she answered him honestly.

"Fine," Levy pouted, slumping back against her headboard as she tried to find the best way to explain her hesitance to see him, "I'm embarrassed by how I behaved the other day, at your place."

"Huh? What are ya talking about, Shrimp? I don't remember you doing anything weird," the dragon slayer questioned, frowning in confusion at her explanation.

"I fell asleep on you, Gajeel!" Levy shouted, "and then I… I… almost…"

Gajeel was staring at her in shock again; her small outburst followed by her muttered comment had him questioning his hearing, barely discerning the last bit of what she said.

"Falling asleep on me's no big deal, Shrimp, you were tired" he said, leaning in towards her as he waved off her first argument, far more concerned the second one he wanted to hear again to know he heard right, "but what did you say you almost did?"

"I…" the bluenette began, swallowing thickly before meeting his determined red eyes, stifling the shock she felt when she found him only a few centimeters from her face, before continuing with her owned determination, "I almost kissed you."

Once more wide eyed, Gajeel pulled away from her, not noticing her slightly hurt expression as he chuckled to himself.

"_You _almost kissed _me_?" He mused to himself, turning to send her a grin as he leaned into her again. "I'm pretty sure it was _me_ who was about to kiss _you_, Shrimp."

He let his smug grin widen over his features as he watched her gasp in shock, her hands going to cover her lips as she stared at him. Gajeel chuckled at her as he moved to push his forehead against hers, relief going through him as he realized he hadn't necessarily scared her of that day. Reaching up he took hold of her hands, pulling them away from her mouth as he tilted his head and leaned in further.

"Would you have been this upset if I had kissed you, Levy?" He asked quietly, his eyes glued to hers as he waited.

With another nervous swallow, Levy answered him, her voice barely above a whisper as she began to feel that nervous anticipation again, her heart hammering against her chest as she waited for what she knew now was inevitable.

"No."

With that one word, Gajeel closed the remaining space between them, finally finishing what they had started in his apartment days before. He gave her a fanged smirk into the kiss when Levy moaned slightly at the contact, her lips parting unconsciously for him so he could deepen the kiss, massaging her lips with his own.

As they gave in to their passion, the dragon slayer felt Levy sinking down into her bed, smiling against his lips as he moved to follow after her, his body laying over her as he went. After some time, Gajeel pulled himself away from her to trail his lips across her cheek to her neck, suckling on her skin there as he moved to pull the covers off the woman, gaining better access to her body in the process. He let out a groan when he felt Levy's hands move into his hair, grasping tightly at the long strands as she began to pant beneath him, thoroughly enjoying his treatment to her neck.

It didn't take long before he let his hands start wandering over her body, slipping under her shirt so he could feel her soft skin under his fingertips. His lips returned to hers so he could swallow her pleasured mewls, one of her hands moving down to the open collar of his shirt to bravely explore his own tough skin. The feel of the small woman beneath him had Gajeel losing himself to his lust for her, his movements becoming a bit rougher as he became desperate for more, craving to feel every inch of her body. Levy didn't seem to mind, only panting harder as more moans escaped her mouth when the hand under her shirt teased at her breasts, testing to see how far he could go in that moment.

When she arched into him, the dragon slayer lost even more patience, pulling away again to tug the shirt off of her. He paused for only a moment to revel in the sight of the young woman lying topless on the bed before leaning back down to scatter rough nips and kisses all along her breasts, growling in delight when she continued to writhe under his touch. As he felt her hands trying to push his own shirt up, Gajeel moved away again to take off the cumbersome barrier, more than happy to give Levy what she wanted then.

Falling on top of her again, the couple moaned at the feeling of skin sliding against skin, their lips meeting in another passionate kiss as things continued to escalate. It didn't take long after that before the rest of their clothing was shed, their hands busy touching every intimate part of each other as they bodies burned for one another. Levy hand mindlessly played with his length as Gajeel moved to stretch her core, his mouth teasing at her nipples to heighten the sensations coursing through her.

When he felt she was ready for him, the dragon slayer moved into position, meeting her slightly nervous brown eyes that held so much passion and emotion in them he was surprised they could be directed at him. With her timid nod, he pushed into her, sealing her mouth his to quiet any pained sounds she might make as he took her innocence, forcing himself to remain as still as he could within her until she had adjusted to him.

As soon as he felt her relax, Gajeel moved himself within her, pumping at a steady pace that had them both panting and moaning, wanting the sensations to go on for as long as possible. With his face buried against her neck all the dragon slayer could hear and smell was the woman in his arms, giving him everything she had in that moment, something he had never imagined gaining before. After that night, she would be irrevocably his; he wouldn't let anyone take her from him no matter who they were.

He let out a deep groan bordering on a growl when he felt the young woman tightening around him, her cries becoming higher as she came, driving him over the edge as he was overwhelmed with pleasure, his mind blacking out for a moment as he collapsed on top of her. They laid there panting for some time, both coming down from their mutual highs, before Gajeel rolled over to his back, taking Levy with him so she could lay on his chest. In the afterglow, the dragon slayer couldn't help it as he found himself showering the young woman with affection, well, at least more than anyone would have guess possible for him.

Grinning down at her tired face, he let his hand run through her sweat soaked locks, brushing the blue strands that had matted to her face so he could look at her better. His expression was as smug as it would be after winning a battle, the man obviously feeling like he had conquered something far greater any enemy.

As Levy's eyes shut in her exhaustion, Gajeel let himself get comfortable, sinking into her bed as he felt sleep tugging at him, too. He was content where he was, his girl tucked away safely in his arms after reveling in carnal pleasures he'd only share with her. Unfortunately, though, their relaxed atmosphere wasn't meant to last long as the door to Levy's apartment came crashing in unexpectedly.

The couple watched curiously as the dust settled to reveal Pantherlily in his large form, sword drawn as he held off an enraged Erza seeking to evict Gajeel from the premises. They watched in wide eyed shock as the red-head turned to glare at them, her own dark expression turning to one of surprise and embarrassment as she took in the situation. The Titania's mouth gaped as her face turned as red as her hair, unable to tear her eyes away from the pair in the bluenette's bed.

"Gajeel!" Lily hollered as he pushed against the distracted mage, "Run! Now!"

The dragon slayer didn't need any more prompting, the man quickly collecting his clothes before leaning down to plant a quick kiss on Levy's lips, making a run for the window before Erza came out of her mortified stupor. Holding up his pants, his shirt balled up under his arm, he moved to jump out, looking back in time to see Lily move to follow after him, changing into his small form as they leapt from the window, the cat flying them off in the hopes of reaching a safe hiding place.

Without the large cat holding up, Erza, the re-quip mage found her balance broken, resulting in her falling face first to the floor, the impact breaking her out of her shock. Jumping up and heading towards the window, the older woman spared her friend a glance, glaring at her for a second before her face erupted in another blush. From there, Titania leapt out the window in pursuit of the trespasser, Levy jumping up to watch the woman running off after them.

To her utmost amusement, and concern, the bluenette spied the bound and gagged form of her best friend hanging from the entrance to the dormitory grounds, swaying from her rope as she struggled against her bonds. The blonde froze in her attempts at escape as Erza ran past, the girl sighing in relief behind her gag when the older woman left her there without any more punishment, allowing her to redouble her efforts and getting out. When Levy saw Lucy's pink-haired spirit, Virgo, pop up, she figured it best to go down and help, and probably thank the other girl for the hand she must have played in getting Gajeel into the dorms.

She just hoped Erza wasn't too hard in punishing everyone in the end.

* * *

**Heehee, I don't know why, but I couldn't stop imagining Lucy in that position at the end... so I had to put it in, lol.**

**And once again, a huge thank you to all of my reviewers! For those who like to follow my Fairy Tail writing, I have another lemon request I plan to start in the coming weeks, it'll be another short one like this, so look forward to it!  
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**I'm also beginning to get some ideas for a possible multi-chapter Laxus x Mira plot for anyone interested in that pairing, we'll see when I get to it, hopefully soon since I'm wrapping up my main One Piece fic here in the next few weeks, too, so I should have a bit more time on my hands to dedicate to it.  
**


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